I have found 04 approachable and better than the original vintage score.

2004 Les Pagodes de Cos - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (3/11/2012)Some nice Old World Wines (St. Paul): Really drinking well tonight with dried herbs, minerals, chocolate and red fruits. A crowd favorite and should drink well for another five plus years. This is evolving in the right direction and at $20 a steal! (91 points)

2004 Le Baron de Brane - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (10/29/2011)Hennepin Lake's Annual Tasting (Tons of Napa Cabs) (Minneapolis, MN): The surprise at the tasting with tobacco, spice, raspberry and minerals. Real balanced wine and plenty of flavors on the finish. Medium in length and drink now or cellar for a few years. Well done. (91 points)

2004 Château Giscours - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (3/1/2011)Minneapolis Does Bordeaux (Edina Country Club): Second time trying this wine and I got dust, cherry, spice, floral and minerals. A light wine compared to the more concentrated 03. This wine should improve a little bit with time but I would consume in the next five years. (90 points)

2004 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (2/6/2011)Minneapolis Wine Club: High End Aussie Wines & Bordeaux: Nice wine and improved with some time. Decanted one hour but needed more time. Charcoal, raspberry, minerals, roses and cedar come together to offer an enjoyable experience. This is a wine to drink with a small group and see the development over 2 or 3 hours. Medium finish and plenty of life left on this wine. (93 points)

2004 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (12/18/2010)What a great wine and showing well with cassis, raspberry, cedar and gravel. Medium and concentrated finish. Should go another 10 years. (92 points)

2004 Château Colombier-Monpelou - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (10/16/2010)What you would expect from an 04 from a non major player. Earth, leather and gravel. The finish is a bit weak but the wine is drinkable. (86 points)

2004 Château Haut-Bailly - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (8/30/2010)Bordeaux Tasting (Edina Country Club): Cigar, scorched earth, dark fruits and mint on the nose. Over the course of the evening this wine did open up and really needs a 3 hour decant prior to consumption. Tannins are medium and finish is solid. (91 points)

2004 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (6/24/2010)Minneapolis Wine Club does Bordeaux; 6/20/2010-6/24/2010 (Kevin's House): Dark purple. Gravel, blueberries, cassis, and spice on the nose. Good concentration on the palate with good acidity. Medium finish and should improve with some age. (93 points)

2004 Château Pontet-Canet - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (6/24/2010)Bordeaux, Italy and a Burg in Minneapolis: Dark! Blind I would never guess Bordeaux and had an in your face nose of crushed rock, violets, spices and cassis. Rich wine with cherry, violets, spices and chocolate dominating the palate and finish. Long finish and tannic. Should have 20 plus years left. (93 points)

2004 Château Cos d'Estournel - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (6/24/2010)Minneapolis Wine Club does Bordeaux; 6/20/2010-6/24/2010 (Kevin's House): Dark purple. Spices, floral, perfume and mulberries on the nose. There is a nice perfume quality throughout the wine and a good mix of fruit and earth elements. Medium finish and some cinnamon. (92 points)

I bought a 6 of Palmer to follow, and the first bottle was very thrilling when I popped it shortly after arrival back in '08, but my most recent bottle (about 6 months ago) was definitely shut down. I am not planning to touch my next bottle until it's about 15 years old. I also had a 6 of Lascombes, but the first two bottles were badly corked. I am fearful of the other 4, at that rate. I have other '04's in the cellar, but since I only have 1 or 2 of each, I am letting these sleep (Ducru Beaucaillou, P. Baron, St. Pierre, and a few others). I will be interested to follow this thread.

82 points: Gamy, gravely and plummy, also some pleasant, not too dirty funk and nice pure grapy fruit. Ok, but not really cohesive at all. I liked this better almost 3 years ago when it was rough/unready but tasted better and was more complex

2004 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (12/18/2010)What a great wine and showing well with cassis, raspberry, cedar and gravel. Medium and concentrated finish. Should go another 10 years. (92 points)

I opened a bottle of this a couple nights ago. It needed 6+ hours of air to show its stuff. This is a fantastic wine, and a steal compared to the '03, '05, and definitely '09!

2004 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (11/3/2012)Decanted for an hour before drinking. LOTS of structure. Pretty nose and pretty on the palate, but hidden behind the structure for the most part. Classic cassis and cigar box on both the nose and the palate. The nose is also giving up some floral hints and some chocolate flavors on the palate. Longish finish. Wait for this one.

2004 Moulin St. George - Fruit was faded and tannins were center stage. Nose of cedar and a hint of dark fruit. Initially grainy and rough - smoothed out over a few hours. Still fairly astringent over 3 hours. Fruit never came forward and the nose was shy the whole time. Begining to think this should have been opened a few years ago. I'll hold on to my last bottle for another few years and see if anything changes.

2004 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (11/3/2012)Decanted for an hour before drinking. LOTS of structure. Pretty nose and pretty on the palate, but hidden behind the structure for the most part. Classic cassis and cigar box on both the nose and the palate. The nose is also giving up some floral hints and some chocolate flavors on the palate. Longish finish. Wait for this one.

2004 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (11/3/2012)Decanted for an hour before drinking. LOTS of structure. Pretty nose and pretty on the palate, but hidden behind the structure for the most part. Classic cassis and cigar box on both the nose and the palate. The nose is also giving up some floral hints and some chocolate flavors on the palate. Longish finish. Wait for this one.

I've had 3 different 2004 Bdx in the last few months. The ones I had were all pretty good, but then again I might have just chosen well. Here are my notes:

2004 Château Latour Grand Vin - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (8/12/2012)Sacrificed in France with Birdungy. Huge wine, but very refined and actually somewhat drinkable. It will undoubtedly improve and become a blockbuster. Right now it's got power and huge length. It'll develop some refinement over time.[img]http://sc.cellartracker.com/labels/65421.jpg[/img]

2004 Château Monbousquet - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (4/29/2012)Very dark wine, moderately opaque. The nose is of smoky crushed black berries with graphite overtones. On the tongue it's got really good weight and good balance. Moderate tannins, good acidity, and decent length. Slightly bitter finish. This is a very nice wine, only the finish detracts from the overall quality, but even so this is quite enjoyable. (91 pts.)[img]http://sc.cellartracker.com/labels/20118.jpg[/img]

2004 Château Branaire (Duluc-Ducru) - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (5/7/2012)Shy & reserved on the first night, this only starts to strut on night #2. Really nice licorice thing going on on the nose, along with rich dark fruit. Still quite acidic in the mouth but rich fruit, dark crushed berries and licorice. It finishes quite well, although could have more length. Very enjoyable, but the rest of mine should be left a couple of more years to blossom. (91 pts.)[img]http://sc.cellartracker.com/labels/52021.jpg[/img]

Yes, you read that right. I traveled to France with a bottle of Latour. When I put it that way it seems kind of stupid, especially given how young this bottle was. OTOH I have a philosophy about wines which says "what the f, may as well drink it". Plus as a bonus I scored a bunch of them at Costco for a lot less than market price

My impression of the vintage is overall mildly positive but is based on a very limited sampling.

2004 Château Monbousquet - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (2/21/2013)Beautiful wine. Very good, maybe outstanding. Tastes better than it is when I think about it objectively perhaps?Smoky, dark berries, and some kind of minerality on the nose. Rich palate without being heavy with a tobacco kind of flavor. Long finish with a kind of rough dark chocolate character to it.